Sushi: The Global Catch

Raised in a family of sushi-bar connoisseurs, I am often shunned at the dinner table for my personal preference of leaving the fish to swim in the ocean instead of being filleted for my evening meal. You could say I live by the Nemo-mantra, “Fish are friends, not food.” Life hasn’t always been like this, however, no indeed it hasn’t. I use to eat sushi like a champ. Octopus. Yellowfin. Snapper. Urchin. Scallops. Lobster. If it wasn’t twitching or moving too fast, I would eat it, and twitching sometimes wouldn’t even stop me, but that’s a story for another time…

So what changed? Well, the state of the oceans and my knowledge of their steep declines did for one.

(Disclaimer: No. I did not join PETA or Greenpeace.)

Today more than ever before, our oceans are being polluted, exploited and over-fished. Now over-fishing is a funny thing. Essentially it all comes down to that wonderful economic principle of “Supply and Demand.” If there is no demand, there will be no justification for the supply. However, in today’s global economy, the demand is relentless. Places who didn’t demand before are now demanding and everyone wants a bigger and bigger slice of the proverbial pie. Unfortunately, the supply didn’t get the memo and global fish stocks are being decimated to a point they will not be able to recover from.

A new documentary called, “Sushi: The Global Catch,” looks to put it all well into perspective.

Sushi: The Global Catch
Directed by: Mark Hall
USA, 2011, 75 min.

So whether my family or you for that matter, agree with my decision to not be a part of the problem, that is up to you. However, I hope you will at least think about it and make an educated stance either way. Our oceans are not an unlimited resource and we must therefore treat them accordingly.